Born 8/28/40, Gloria Leonard appeared in about 40 porn movies from 1976-84.
For 14 years, she served as publisher of the High Society sex magazine.

Gloria, who stands 5'9, pioneered the phone sex industry and celebrity
skin magazines. She used to be married to pornographer Bobby Hollander.
During the early '80s, she had a one year affair with pornographer Ron
Sullivan. She later directed several pornos including the Savannah vehicle
Vow of Passion.

Between 1989-92, she served as administrative director of the now defunct
Adult Film Association. When it merged with Free Speech Coalition, Gloria
was tossed out. Several video company owners thought that an ex-porn star
could not have credibility with the public. Gloria and company also fought
over the name for the industry's new trade group. She wanted "adult" in
the name while many of the company owners preferred something more generic
in the vain hope of attracting broader support. "Many of us are motivated
by passion and principle rather than just profits."

In 1993, Gloria moved to Hawaii. She returned to Los Angeles to work
for Private in October of 1997. "Sometimes you have to go away for a few
years for people to appreciate you." In early 1998, she was elected president
of the Free Speech Coalition.

Leonard grew up in New York. She worked on Wall Street for three years
as a registered representative of the now defunct Schweickart and Company.
Leonard also worked for various PR firms. She started out as a copywriter
for Electra Records when they were "just a little one-room office in Greenwhich
Village. I worked for Johnny Carson's publicist. I have many years of
experience as a writer."

In 1976, the secretive publisher of High Society and other sex magazines,
New Yorker Carl Ruderman wanted "a twist on an old theme. He wanted a
female publisher of a mens magazine. I was chosen because I had a strong
background in PR and journalism. We [porn folks] also have other lives
besides porn. I worked on Wall Street for many years. No one ever asks
me my advice on the market. When the word 'porn' comes up, it's as though
that's all you have ever done or will do…and I resent that. One of the
reasons that I can successfully call myself a survivor is that I did not
let the adult business be the be-all and end-all of my life. I still go
to the theater, I still listen to jazz… I have friends who work outside
the industry. It is part of my life, it is not all of my life. I'm sure
that you [Luke F-rd] and others would like to think that… We are compelled
to live a certain lifestyle 24 hours a day to fulfill a certain fantasy."

Phone sex took off in 1983, with Gloria Leonard and High Society magazine
leading the way. "We owned these 976 phone lines…that were used until
then for weather, sports….Dial a prayer. Dial a joke…. We tried to figure
out how to make some money off the lines. At first we simply used them
to announce the contents of our coming issue. Then we wrote sexy scenarios
[jerk-off routines] which the centerfolds recorded."

On special days, like Christmas or Valentine's Day, Gloria recorded
her own masturbatory fantasies. Leonard played a large role in my teenage
years. Born in 1966, I first began consuming porn in 1982. My diet largely
consisted of magazines like Playboy, Penthouse and Gloria's High Society,
perhaps my favorite. She symbolized to me the wicked woman. I was not
thrilled, however, by the magazine's decision to so prominently highlight
the naked body of a woman moving through middle age. I shot my loads to
the younger models.

Leonard published High Society from 1977-91.

"I started supervising layouts, shoots… writing a lion's share of the
copy, including cover lines… I went out on the road and visited many of
our wholesalers… There were 400-500…They in turn distributed to the retail
level… I met with everyone from the truck drivers to the company principals…
I examined bulk records to see how many copies an agency was getting…how
many magazines they were returning. I did four to seven media interviews
a day at times, depending on what High Society wanted to promote.

"I started phone sex… We fought a case up to the Supreme Court…on a freedom
of speech issue. Our counsel of record was Harvard's Laurence Tribe. We
won. "Our first recording was my voice previewing the next issue. Then
we wrote little scripts… Phone sex took on a life of its own, entering
the world lexicon. The lines became toll numbers… They had to put in blocking
devices…at the Pentagon, ABC network, because people diddled their day
away listening to these wicked women on the phone."

During the early '80s, Gloria Leonard almost produced the first million
dollar porno. "It was during my tenure as Publisher of High Society Magazine,"
the FSC President writes to me, "I had terrific relationships with many
of the magazine wholesalers/distributors of the day - a group came to
me wanting to fund the first million dollar porn movie. I actually tried
talking them out of the idea, explaining that I could produce ten excellent
money-makers for that much dough but they wanted to go ahead anyway. Attempting
to anticipate what might be the one element which would bring theatre
goers of all stripes to see such a movie, I hit on the idea of having
a well-known author write the screenplay. Norman Mailer and I had appeared
on a talk show together and developed a friendship - I invited him to
lunch and explained the project I had in mind. I was even willing to buy
rights to an already existing property he had written - about Marilyn
Monroe. He was more than receptive to the idea and wanted to do something
original. Although his price was high, it would have still left more than
enough for a big budget feature! The problem at the time was that he was
completing his tome, "Ancient Evenings" with a commitment for a Broadway
play immediately thereafter. We would have to wait for close to a year
but were thrilled at the prospect of having one of America's foremost
literary figures create an adult movie. However, deals such as they tend
to be, started to fray around the edges and regrettably, it never came
to pass - for a variety of reasons. Interestingly, a few years later,
as they were turning his book "Tough Guys Don't Dance" into a movie (which
turned out to be a big bomb) he called me to read for one of the principal
parts and though he thought I was terrific (and I was), the part went
to Francis Fisher (Clint Eastwood's ex). Just as well - no one went to
see it anyway!"

Soon after Leonard moved from New York, it became "logistically impractical"
for her to stay on as High Society publisher. "Julia Parton was brought
in [1991] after I left…. That started the trend towards the publisher
as figure head. I however was a working publisher…"

As the new president of the Free Speech Coalition, Leonard hopes to "engage
more of the talent and those on the technical end…instead of just the
owners. I believe that ten $50 members are at least as important as one
$500 member.

"The Free Speech Coalition has fought the good fight…Fought important
legal cases…It's a great organization. Its heart is in the right place.
It only wants to do good. And by doing good, you fight censorship, and
you support those who are your industry. "It's established PAW…which seeks
to meet the needs of the performers…"

Gloria names PAW founder Bill Margold as one of her closest friends in
porn along with the manager of a laser disc company, Mara Epstein.

"Some days you are not sure whether to bless him [Bill] or curse him,
but he is one of my favorite persons on earth…and we have never had a
romance."

7/6/01

Gloria Leonard writes
from Hawaii: Poor Jeff Goodman!
If you look up the word "nerd" in the dictionary, his picture is right
there! I won't even dignify his imbecilic remarks about my age and appearance
some twenty or so years ago. s---, even blow-up dolls chewed holes in
themselves so as not to have sex with this geek, so what can you expect?
The only thing we did have in common was getting screwed by Carl
Ruderman. After I'd been there for twelve years as publisher, they
conned me into changing my pay status from employee to consultant. Once
I was terminated after fourteen years (having made them many millions
of dollars), they did hire a younger female, which lasted about a year.
On the grounds of ageism, I attempted to bring a lawsuit against them
but their wily, wicked strategy paid off 'cause as a "consultant" I was
no longer considered an employee and therefore, had no legal ground to
stand on! After fourteen years, no pension, no severance, nada. Ruderman
got a great deal with me (and yes, even with Goofy Goodman) and his greed
sadly, prevailed. There are many ways of getting f---ed in porn and this
is yet another example of trust turning to rust!

"976" writes: Jeff Goodman is all wet when he says Gloria Leonard did
not invent phone sex. Here is photographic
proof of her pioneering involvement circa 1980.